Apertured surface materials are often used in disposable personal care products such as diapers, sanitary napkins, or the like. The apertured materials could be used e.g. as topsheets, as intermediate layers in the products or at the edges thereof.
For certain applications it is desired to have apertured web-shaped materials with sealed edges. For instance, this could be the case for materials that are to be used as topsheets or acquisition layers in absorbent products. The edges being sealed ensures that any liquid received on the topsheet passes through the apertures without being absorbed via the edges of the apertures.
The application of apertured materials is however not limited to materials intended to allow liquid to pass therethrough. For example, apertured materials could also be absorbent, having apertures so as to allow the materials to breathe.
Known processes for forming apertured web-shaped materials with sealed edges include thermobonding followed by aperturing the regions of the thermobond, needling, mechanical cutting, laser cutting, water jet cutting, etc.
Usually, the apertured materials are acquired separately and brought to a product manufacturing process where they are bound to form a product, such as a disposable personal care product. Accordingly, the manufacturer of absorbent products must order and stock sufficient amounts of apertured materials, and have limited capability of adjusting the acquired apertured materials to the needs e.g. of new products.
Alternatively, the product manufacturer may have their own aperturing equipment, although the aperturing equipment is then separate from the equipment for forming the complete absorbent product.